List of largest lakes of the United States by area

The following is a list of the 100 largest lakes of the United States by normal surface area. The top twenty lakes in size are as listed by the National Atlas of the United States, a publication of the United States Department of the Interior. The area given is the normal or average area of the lake. The area of some lakes fluctuates substantially. For those lakes partially in Canada or Mexico the area given for the lake is the total area, not just the part of the lake in the United States. Of the top 100 lakes, 55 are man-made and 45 are natural. Two lakes in the top 100 are primarily salt water, and two are primarily brackish water.

Rank	Name	U.S. states/Canadian provinces/Mexican states	Area		Type	Notes
1	Lake Superior	Michigan–Minnesota–Wisconsin–Ontario	31,700 sq mi	82,103 km²	natural	^[1]
2	Lake Huron	Michigan–Ontario	23,000 sq mi	59,570 km²	natural	^[2]
3	Lake Michigan	Illinois–Indiana–Michigan–Wisconsin	22,300 sq mi	57,757 km²	natural	^[3]
4	Lake Erie	Michigan–New York–Ohio–Ontario–Pennsylvania	9,910 sq mi	25,667 km²	natural	^[3]
5	Lake Ontario	New York–Ontario	7,340 sq mi	19,011 km²	natural	^[3]
6	Lake of the Woods	Manitoba–Minnesota–Ontario	1,679 sq mi	4,349 km²	natural
7	Iliamna Lake	Alaska	1,014 sq mi	2,626 km²	natural
8	Great Salt Lake	Utah	950 sq mi	2,460 km²	natural	salt^[4]
9	Lake Oahe	North Dakota–South Dakota	685 sq mi	1,774 km²	man-made	^[5]
10	Lake Okeechobee	Florida	662 sq mi	1,715 km²	natural	^[6]
11	Lake Pontchartrain	Louisiana	631 sq mi	1,634 km²	natural	brackish^[7]
12	Lake Sakakawea	North Dakota	520 sq mi	1,347 km²	man-made
13	Lake Champlain	New York–Vermont–Quebec	490 sq mi	1,269 km²	natural
14	Becharof Lake	Alaska	453 sq mi	1,173 km²	natural
15	Lake St. Clair	Michigan–Ontario	440 sq mi	1,140 km²	natural
16	Red Lake	Minnesota	427 sq mi	1,106 km²	natural	^[8]
17	Selawik Lake	Alaska	404 sq mi	1,046 km²	natural
18	Fort Peck Lake	Montana	393 sq mi	1,018 km²	man-made
19	Salton Sea	California	347 sq mi	899 km²	man-made	salt^[9]
20	Rainy Lake	Minnesota–Ontario	345 sq mi	894 km²	natural
21	Teshekpuk Lake	Alaska	320 sq mi	829 km²	natural
22	Devils Lake	North Dakota	300 sq mi	777 km²	natural	^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]
23	Toledo Bend Reservoir	Louisiana–Texas	284 sq mi	736 km²	man-made
24	Lake Powell	Arizona–Utah	251 sq mi	650 km²	man-made
25	Kentucky Lake	Kentucky–Tennessee	250 sq mi	647 km²	man-made
26	Lake Mead	Arizona–Nevada	247 sq mi	640 km²	man-made
27	Naknek Lake	Alaska	242 sq mi	627 km²	natural
28	Lake Winnebago	Wisconsin	215 sq mi	557 km²	natural
29	Mille Lacs Lake	Minnesota	207 sq mi	536 km²	natural
30	Flathead Lake	Montana	192 sq mi	497 km²	natural
31	Lake Tahoe	California–Nevada	191 sq mi	495 km²	natural
32	Pyramid Lake	Nevada	183 sq mi	474 km²	natural
33	Sam Rayburn Reservoir	Texas	179 sq mi	464 km²	man-made
34	Eufaula Lake	Oklahoma	169 sq mi	438 km²	man-made
*	Tulare Lake	California	168 sq mi	435 km²	natural	normally a dry lake, melting snowpack and rainfall have left Tulare Lake at 168 square miles as of June 2023^[14]
35	Lake Marion	South Carolina	165 sq mi	427 km²	man-made
36	Leech Lake	Minnesota	161 sq mi	417 km²	natural
37	Sardis Lake	Mississippi	153 sq mi	396 km²	man-made
38	Utah Lake	Utah	151 sq mi	391 km²	natural
39	Lake Francis Case	South Dakota	149 sq mi	386 km²	man-made
40	Lake Pend Oreille	Idaho	148 sq mi	383 km²	natural
41	Lake Texoma	Oklahoma–Texas	139 sq mi	360 km²	man-made
42	Yellowstone Lake	Wyoming	136 sq mi	352 km²	natural
43	Falcon Lake	Tamaulipas–Texas	131 sq mi	339 km²	man-made
44	Lake Livingston	Texas	130 sq mi	337 km²	man-made
45	Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake	Washington	128 sq mi	332 km²	man-made
46	Lake Clark	Alaska	120 sq mi	311 km²	natural
47	Moosehead Lake	Maine	117 sq mi	303 km²	natural
48	Lake Strom Thurmond	Georgia–South Carolina	111 sq mi	287 km²	man-made
49	Bear Lake	Idaho–Utah	109 sq mi	282 km²	natural
50	Lake Guntersville	Alabama	108 sq mi	280 km²	man-made
51	Lake St. Francis	New York–Ontario–Quebec	105 sq mi	272 km²	man-made	^[15]
51	Wheeler Lake	Alabama	105 sq mi	272 km²	man-made
53	Amistad Lake	Coahuila–Texas	102 sq mi	264 km²	man-made
54	Klamath Lake	Oregon	96 sq mi	249 km²	natural
55	Tustumena Lake	Alaska	94 sq mi	243 km²	natural	^[16]
55	Lake Moultrie	South Carolina	94 sq mi	243 km²	man-made
57	Lake Winnibigoshish	Minnesota	91 sq mi	236 km²	natural
57	Lake Barkley	Kentucky–Tennessee	91 sq mi	236 km²	man-made
59	Lake Sharpe	South Dakota	89 sq mi	231 km²	man-made
60	American Falls Reservoir	Idaho	88 sq mi	228 km²	man-made
61	Lake Hartwell	Georgia–South Carolina	87 sq mi	225 km²	man-made
61	Truman Reservoir	Missouri	87 sq mi	225 km²	man-made
63	Lake of the Ozarks	Missouri	86 sq mi	223 km²	man-made
64	Oneida Lake	New York	80 sq mi	207 km²	natural
65	Lake Cumberland	Kentucky	79 sq mi	205 km²	man-made
66	Kerr Lake	North Carolina–Virginia	78 sq mi	202 km²	man-made
67	Calcasieu Lake	Louisiana	77 sq mi	199 km²	natural
68	Lake Murray	South Carolina	75 sq mi	194 km²	man-made
69	Grand Lake o' the Cherokees	Oklahoma	73 sq mi	189 km²	man-made
69	Lake Koocanusa	British Columbia–Montana	73 sq mi	189 km²	man-made
71	Lake George	Florida	72 sq mi	186 km²	natural	brackish
72	Lake Winnipesaukee	New Hampshire	71 sq mi	184 km²	natural
72	Bull Shoals Lake	Arkansas–Missouri	71 sq mi	184 km²	man-made
73	Walter F. George Lake	Alabama–Georgia	71 sq mi	184 km²	man-made
74	Lake Martin	Alabama	69 sq mi	179 km²	man-made
75	Clear Lake	California	68 sq mi	176 km²	natural
75	Robert S. Kerr Lake	Oklahoma	68 sq mi	176 km²	man-made
75	Seneca Lake	New York	68 sq mi	176 km²	natural
78	Pickwick Lake	Alabama–Mississippi–Tennessee	67 sq mi	174 km²	man-made
78	Table Rock Lake	Arkansas–Missouri	67 sq mi	174 km²	man-made
78	Cayuga Lake	New York	67 sq mi	174 km²	natural
81	Flaming Gorge Reservoir	Utah–Wyoming	66 sq mi	171 km²	man-made
82	Richland-Chambers Reservoir	Texas	64 sq mi	166 km²	man-made
83	Lake Vermilion	Minnesota	63 sq mi	163 km²	natural
83	Lake Ouachita	Arkansas	63 sq mi	163 km²	man-made
83	Lake Mattamuskeet	North Carolina	63 sq mi	163 km²	natural
86	Watts Bar Lake	Tennessee	61 sq mi	158 km²	man-made
86	Lake Wallula	Oregon–Washington	61 sq mi	158 km²	man-made
88	Lake Lanier	Georgia	59 sq mi	153 km²	man-made
89	Lake Tawakoni	Texas	57 sq mi	148 km²	man-made
89	Elephant Butte Lake	New Mexico	57 sq mi	148 km²	man-made
89	Chickamauga Lake	Tennessee	57 sq mi	148 km²	man-made
92	Grenada Lake	Mississippi	55 sq mi	142 km²	man-made
92	Lake Kissimmee	Florida	55 sq mi	142 km²	natural
94	Lake Dardanelle	Arkansas	54 sq mi	140 km²	man-made
95	Norris Lake	Tennessee	53 sq mi	137 km²	man-made
95	Canyon Ferry Lake	Montana	53 sq mi	137 km²	man-made
97	Lake Chelan	Washington	52 sq mi	135 km²	natural
98	Cedar Creek Lake	Texas	51 sq mi	132 km²	man-made
98	Lake Norman	North Carolina	51 sq mi	132 km²	man-made
100	Walker Lake	Nevada	50 sq mi	129 km²	natural

Notes edit

^ One of the Great Lakes; considered the largest lake in the United States by the National Atlas of the United States.
^ Although it forms one a single hydrological unit with Lake Michigan (their surfaces are at the same elevation and the water flows in either direction in the channel separating them), they are generally considered distinct lakes, and Lake Michigan is generally considered the largest lake entirely within the United States, as Lake Huron and Lake Superior are binational (shared with Canada).
^ ^a ^b ^c One of the Great Lakes.
^ The largest salt water lake in the United States.
^ Largest man-made lake (reservoir) by surface area in the United States.
^ Largest lake in the South
^ Often considered an estuary rather than a lake
^ includes both Upper and Lower Red Lake
^ highly variable in area
^ The area of Devils Lake was taken from the summer 2011 record peak of 1,454.4 ft (443.3 m) MSL. Devils Lake has experienced severe flooding and has risen more than 31 feet (9.4 m) since 1993. Area has increased by 4 times.
^ Devils Lake Elevation-Volume Table
^ "USGS Devils Lake Flood History". Archived from the original on 2009-02-08. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
^ National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (NWS AHPS) for Devils Lake at Creel Bay
^ Hubler, Shawn; Abramson, Mark (25 June 2023). "A Vast Lake Has Captivated California Where Farms Stood a Year Ago". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
^ Part of St. Lawrence Seaway
^ Alaska Department of Fish and Game. "Wildlife Viewing at Tustumena Lake Road - Kenai Peninsula, Alaska Department of Fish and Game". Adfg.alaska.gov. Retrieved 2022-10-21.

External links edit

List from the National Atlas of the United States

[1] One of the Great Lakes; considered the largest lake in the United States by the National Atlas of the United States.

[2] Although it forms one a single hydrological unit with Lake Michigan (their surfaces are at the same elevation and the water flows in either direction in the channel separating them), they are generally considered distinct lakes, and Lake Michigan is generally considered the largest lake entirely within the United States, as Lake Huron and Lake Superior are binational (shared with Canada).

[Great_Lake-3] One of the Great Lakes.

[4] The largest salt water lake in the United States.

[5] Largest man-made lake (reservoir) by surface area in the United States.

[6] Largest lake in the South

[7] Often considered an estuary rather than a lake

[8] udes both Upper and Lower Red Lake

[9] y variable in area

[10] The area of Devils Lake was taken from the summer 2011 record peak of 1,454.4 ft (443.3 m) MSL. Devils Lake has experienced severe flooding and has risen more than 31 feet (9.4 m) since 1993. Area has increased by 4 times.

[11] Devils Lake Elevation-Volume Table

[12] "USGS Devils Lake Flood History". Archived from the original on 2009-02-08. Retrieved 2011-09-30.

[13] National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (NWS AHPS) for Devils Lake at Creel Bay

[14] Hubler, Shawn; Abramson, Mark (25 June 2023). "A Vast Lake Has Captivated California Where Farms Stood a Year Ago". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 July 2023.

[15] Part of St. Lawrence Seaway

[16] Alaska Department of Fish and Game. "Wildlife Viewing at Tustumena Lake Road - Kenai Peninsula, Alaska Department of Fish and Game". Adfg.alaska.gov. Retrieved 2022-10-21.

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List of largest lakes of the United States by area

See also edit

Notes edit

External links edit